Hi, I’m in middle school and I did something really stupid but let me start from the beginning. I sit next to these girls in science who have been verbally and physically abusing me. I asked the teacher if we would be having a seat change and she said no. They are best friends and I overhear all their conversations. One day I heard them saying how they were going to lose their virginity the night of the dance! I never thought about that again, but one day I found this account on Instagram that was a gossip site for our school. I made a fake account and sent them the information. One day later it popped up that they were going to have their cherry popped. The next day at school no one knows it’s me but I think one of their friends told the administrator. I’m scared they will find out and I will get OSS (Out of school suspension). I can’t afford that since I am a straight A student, and can’t get in trouble since we are moving and I will be going to a private school. I realize what I did was stupid immature and horrible but at the time all I could think about was revenge. Please help me!! I beg you!

Sarah J replies

I’m sorry you have been bullied by these girls! That’s totally unfair and I imagine you’ve felt very angry about being treated this way. If I understand your letter correctly, you created a fake Instagram account and posted the information that you overheard onto it anonymously. Now, you’re feeling scared that you might get caught and may lose your status as an A student and possibly your reputation. I don’t sense that you feel bad about what you’ve done as much as you are afraid of the possible repercussions.

I’m sure you’ve been told many times that two wrongs don’t make a right and this is the perfect example of this. Throughout your life you are going to have many opportunities where you can choose to take the high road or the low one. In this occasion, you chose the low one and it doesn’t feel very good. You aren’t alone. We all do this as we are learning who we are and how we want to walk through this life. Hopefully, you’ve learned a lesson and you won’t have too harsh of consequences. The high road would have been to ignore the girls and their meanness and focus on being the best person you can be. The mean people will always get paid back but you don’t have to be the one to do it.

I suspect that if you haven’t gotten called to the principal’s office by now, you probably won’t be. If you do get contacted about it, I recommend that you are totally honest and explain your remorse and offer to apologize to the girls. I’d also suggest that you go into IG now and delete the post. You can do that by going to the three dots at the top right of your post.

Life lessons are always hard and we can learn from any mistake we make. I hope things work out well for you and that you can get a new seat assignment away from these girls. Maybe if you tell your teacher that it’s hard for you to work with so much distraction, she will move you. I wish you luck in your new school and welcome you to write back again if you need any more advice in the future.